A six-man breakaway went up the road early on the stage, which took the riders south out of Belgium - via a lap of the Spa-Francorchamps Formula One circuit - through Luxembourg and into France for the first time this year.

The peloton kept the break in check, not allowing their lead to grow much more than two minutes, and, after it dipped under 60 seconds with a little under 60km remaining, Lotto-Soudal's Thomas De Gendt was part of a three-man group that bridged over.

That sparked a series of attacks out of the break, but, when Direct-Energie's Lillian Calmejane was the last to be swallowed up with 10km to go, the battle was on at the front of the peloton.